Best Fighters in Game of Thrones | Ned Stark

How good of a fighter was Ned Stark? Let’s close out this debate Once and for all. I will be sourcing information from the show, the books, AND an interview by George R. R. Martin himself which proves two things:
(1) Ser Jaime Lannister was a better fighter than Lord Eddard Stark
(2) Ned was NOT an elite fighter
GRRM interview judging LOTR and ASOIAF matchups: www.westeros.or...
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[@agookchild]

Most people call Ned a fool for dying because of Honor, but Ned lived his life the way he chose: Honor > Death. "You think my life is some precious thing to me? I grew up with soldiers. I learned how to die years ago." -Lord Eddard Stark

[@ryu9687]

And then Varys inquired about his children and Ned’s looks said it all

[@AndrazhF]

And his teachings amd spirit live on, with his kids being kings and queens, while the Lannisters are practicaly extinct

[@seanhamilton9022]

@@AndrazhF Only cause he had so many kids :(

[@parikshitrao4208]

@@seanhamilton9022 only cus plot armour

[@GlobusTheGreat]

@@parikshitrao4208 I'd like to think that even in a more properly written finale, maybe in what GRRM comes up with, House Stark will still be generally overall winners in the end compared to House Lannister, for more plot justifiable reasons.

[@HowardHughes33]

No, Ned is a B+ fighter with an A+ heart.

[@bridge4]

+Lance Watson well said!

[@cristinamagnettigisolo3990]

❤

[@ComanderComander]

So Jamie is a A+ Fighter with a B Heart

[@koreshura641]

with a B- heart at best @Comander xD, then he became a C+ Fighter with a B+ Heart

[@juve96]

With a F in politics

[@BlackPenzo]

His sword Ice alone indicates who and what Ned is pretty easily as well: It is too big for combat but only used for judgement and symbolic purposes. That exactly shows that Ned is a lord first and a fighter second.

[@bridge4]

+BlackPenzo poetic. Well said

[@johngordon8513]

Also swords made of valyrian steel were lighter than ordinary steel

[@anon2427]

BlackPenzo I think it’s symbolic of his ego/honor

[@miguelmontenegro3520]

Wrong... you know why i think he was a good fighter? Thats because greatswords were used by footmen in heavy armor with two hands. So it was a difficult weapon to handle

[@dootdoot1867]

BlackPenzo with ice and full plate mail in a battle Ned Stark would have been one of the nastiest men for any of the top fighters in GOT. The potential of that in a fight with bannermen at his heels would have made the most formidable singular army in the entirety of game of thrones.

[@Zutnop92]

This is very simple: Ned is a beast in a chaotic war, where tactics regarding you surroundings is important. However, in a man VS man sword fight he is not an elite, even if he is pretty far above the avarage soldier.

[@j-gam6666]

Zutnop Holmgren He did hold his own against Ser Arthur Dane and Jamie Lannister but eventually would lose.

[@trunks4139]

He is elite, no an A rank fighter like Robert, Arhur, Barriston, & many others but hes easily B rank.

[@evanmcc99]

J-Gam666 in the show and only the show

[@noxturn8620]

Do we ever actually see him fight in the books? The only reference to Ned fighting I remember is how he 1v1 and won against Arthur dayne. He was so baddass Edric dayne was named after Eddard.

[@evanmcc99]

Devaprakash Venuganan Ned didn’t 1v1 Arthur Dayne he did for a short while but howland reed stabbed Arthur in the back allowing Ned to finish him but Nee was getting slapped around. Jamie is roughly equal to Arthur but in the book Jamie slaps Ned around when Jamie confronts him in kings landing.

[@jarlbregadan914]

No way that any human character in ASOIAF can defeat Aragorn. Aragorn had spent nearly 70 years fighting by the time he meets Frodo, and he was at the prime of his strenght at that point. 70 years of fighting experience and enhanced physical abilities due to his Numenorean blood. There is no way.

[@bridge4]

question tho, its been awhile since i read LOTR. ive seen a LOOOT of cool stuff from LOTR fans in the comment section of a couple of my videos. but does that stuff come from LOTR or other works? cause George says he is a huge JRR fan. and im not doubting him. i say the same thing. but i didnt realize all the cool stuff about Aragorn until i made the "top 3" video. maybe George hasnt read the other materials?

[@Kuon002]

bridge4 Haven't read the books in a while but in the extended LOTR movies Aragorns age and lineage in mentioned and it's mentioned that he lived with the elves.

[@Elador1000]

Yeah, but you are not going to get exponentially more skilled. Or even keep improving at the same rate. Skill improvement would roughly follow the logarithmic curve as it does in real life with athletes or even other professionals like surgeons. There is also likely a cap and disadvantages with facing the same, less good opponents like orcs all the time. Raw talent would likely win.

[@Atem0007]

Experience>skill/talent, a guy who fought for nearly a century have seen enough wars, battles, techniques, duels, strategies to not even doubt himself or feel fear, confidence alone would be sky high, think of it like a video game character, a lvl 70 vs a lvl 30 / 35.

[@Elador1000]

Realistically speaking, he would not feel fear, because he would be a nut job after such a long span of fighting. Combat performance of active duty soldiers at both world wars peaked at about 9-24 months and then decreased due to psychological problems. And we don't really need to look at the "Experience over talent" too far. Look at the martial sports and champion title fights in which talented contender is quite often way younger than is the champion and have less experience. Same goes for surgeons and so on. As I have stated, the world is not a video game with levels, the experiences have limited benefits. They have diminishing returns, in economic language. That begin said, LOTR is not realistic at all. It's like trying to compare realistic human beings with superheroes.

[@Siegbert85]

I didn't interpret his "Now it ends" as "I'm definitely gonna kill you" but more like "either you or us are going to die today".

[@bridge4]

+MacX1985 I like that way better. People use that line as a sign of confidence tho, so I had to address it that way with a a rebuttal as to why he might be confident (numbers advantage)

[@Siegbert85]

Yeah, just from watching the show I never got the feeling the Ned was supposed to be an exceptional fighter. Even his older brother seemed to be better. But his was quite good. Enough to make a difference.

[@trevonlaugier8391]

that's true....his brother is written as the superior warrior. Most often in these types of books, the eldest son is the measuring stick. So if I had to guess, I would think his brother was raised at Winterfell would have been the superior fighter.

[@karn75]

Just rewatched Tower scene there are at least 6 on Ned's side counting him and Howland. As to "Now it ends" it doesn't seem to me like its a statement of confidence in the numbers, more just a matter of fact reply seeing as Dayne and Hightower are the last real fighters on the Targaryen side and that Once they are gone the war is officially settled.

[@bridge4]

+karn75 yeh I stupidly said 5 on 2 instead of 6. My bad. Thanks for the heads up!

[@snwitzles]

Sad but true. Doesn't spoil the character one bit. Ned Stark still died protecting the greatest secret to westeros.

[@bridge4]

+snwitzles I wonder if jon will ever "see" him again. Ned promised he would tell him who his mother was

[@snwitzles]

bridge4 I'd actually think they might have met, when Jon was stabbed to death. "In heaven". But he did say he din't see anything, could probably be because he discovered the truth about his lineage.

[@snwitzles]

bridge4 And also keep up the good work.

[@bridge4]

+snwitzles or maybe u get amnesia (is thst tje rigjt word?) If u get brought back to life...

[@snwitzles]

That could also be the case. Or he has not fully recovered his memories yet.

[@haymaker710]

Ned is above average but not elite. He's more suited to large scale wars not single combat.

[@bridge4]

+Jonathan Haymaker ja wohl!

[@trunks4139]

he was very elite, B+ fighter.. Sir Barriston himself praises him.

[@bramsteenhoek2674]

@@bridge4 wait youre German

[@witty2898]

@@bridge4 Jawohl.

[@witty2898]

@@bridge4 you New Jersey jew

[@Ayers12]

Ned may have lost in the training yard, but he always won on the battlefield. His mental acuity and wisdom elevate his warrior status beyond what it would be in a training yard or a fighting pit.

[@bridge4]

+Ayers12 hear, hear. I can dig it :)

[@RaynmanPlays]

There's a lot of context we don't know about that fight.

[@AshPaddyM]

Ned was a commander, a tactician and a leader. That was his strength.

[@9birdstyle]

Spot on. He was a great battle commander like Rob, but not an elite combatant, competent but not elite. The show boosts his skill level for for the fans

[@bridge4]

+9birdstyle exactly. Show version is painted better than book version

[@nathangarrett9868]

Cadwell right now I'd say Jamie in the books Jon in the show, as long as we are taking about reborn Jon and two hands Jamie lol

[@seanorourke534]

nathan garrett Jon is a great fighter, but cant be the best. He was beat by the legend of gin alley, but was saved by crasters daughter. However, he did learn his biggest lesson in that fight, which could put him on top of the list of those still alive, but he's competing with briene and the hound for top spot. They can at least hang onto their sword for a full fight

[@bridge4]

+Sean O'Rourke lol downside for the hound is thst he's injured nowadays Whereas his brother might be even stronger now...

[@seanorourke534]

yeah, just imagine if the Hound wasn't sick from infection and Briene didn't have Oathkeeper. That's I why I don't put her firmly on top.

[@maheshwaranpillai]

Aragorn fought horde of Orcs,was more than 80 years old at the war of the ring and was considered to be on par with elven warriors, who were literally immortal, perfect beings and he himself was a Numenorean, a special breed of Humans born to be Kings, he was over 7 feet tall. Need I say more.

[@seanorourke534]

I think you've said to much. I can see the Nerdgasm your having. It's all fake, none of it matters

[@maheshwaranpillai]

Yeah the entire video and the discussion itself is irrelevant if you had anything to say I suppose.

[@meldraghart]

I don't think Jamie would stand a chance agains Aragorn... Aragorn was trained with elves, killed orcs, uruk-hais, trolls and fought with undead kings... I don't think Jamie is that badass.

[@LadyAneh]

Aragorn was not over 7 feet tall. He was 6'6". Regardless, he would have had very little trouble beating Jamie.

[@MsJavaWolf]

True, Aragorn was much stronger.

[@GoblinTalk]

"They called him the Sword of the Morning, and he would have killed me but for Howland Reed.” Father had gotten sad then, and he would say no more." -~ Bran ACOK. Ned didn't want credit for beating Arthur Dayne

[@venomgrz6854]

because he let him live, told him to go to the wall, and "mance rayder" was actually ser arthur dayne

[@sunsoar1822]

I feel like Elite does describe Ned, and i would argue that the top, say 10 fighters, in the kingdom are more then elite, they are the elite of the elite. And by that definition, Ned, is certainly Elite.

[@bridge4]

+SUNSOAR hehe ok depends how we define elite. I was reserving that for the selmy and barristan class of fighters. As opposed to using a wordx lets use a number. I'd put ned down at the 3rd tier in the show. And 4th tier in the books Where do u put him?

[@sunsoar1822]

Depending on the Number of Tiers and the Definitions there in, I'd agree with you. Eg: Tiers 1: Mythical Fighters: Greatest Fighters of History/Mythology, Usually dead for quite some time. 2: Legendary Fighters: Best Fighters in the kingdom, Alive or recently dead. 3: Elite Fighters: Not the Best in the realm but well above average. 4: Above Avg Fighters: Any note worthy character who is considers a decent fighter. 5: Average Fighters: Standard. 6: Below Avg: Slightly sub par to the Standard. 7: Well Below Avg: Note worthily bad fighters. 8: Worst of the Worst: Legendarily Bad fighters / completely incompetent combatants. In a structure like/similar to this, i would definitely agree Ned is tier 3. (TV Ned Anyway.)

[@sunsoar1822]

The only reason i even mention it, is because i feel like, "Elite" is an apt description of Ned's fighting abilities. It seems wrong to, not consider him Elite, because its the arbitrary Title you've given to you're Tier 2. PS: this is not ment to cause offence and is not intended as an attack/insult, JUST TO BE CLEAR. I'm not a YT troll, honest comment. PPS: I did indeed enjoy your video, and found your reasoning to be fair, my issue is solely with the arbitrary use of the word Elite, which does indeed aptly describe Neds statue as a warrior,

[@bridge4]

+SUNSOAR I hear ya!! Appreciate the feedback. Im going to make it very clear when I do a top 50 list. Ill make tiers. :)

[@bridge4]

+SUNSOAR ahhhh cool. Just saw his one now. Ye we are on the same page. For sure

[@Axel1051]

I haven't read the books, but as far as I can tell on the Ned vs Jaime subject, Ned has experience and is not short on skill, but he lacks Jaime's true talent for swordplay. Ned is like the kid who practises football constantly and is good enough to stand in the company of guys like Luka Modric or Ian Wright. Jaime is the guy who has natural talent to the level of Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane or even Johan Cruyff.

[@kristiannygaard6617]

Conclusion from this video and also my general impression: Ned was significantly above average (even among nobles and others trained from yearly age), but not among the very best (in their primes), like Jamie Lannister, Barristan Selmy, Arthur Dayne, Oberyn Martell and Robert Baratheon. Possibly also Loras Tyrell, Jon Snow, Greatjon Umber and the Cleganes.

[@bridge4]

+Kristian Nygaard for sure. that's how I see it. And let's add in that show ned is better than book ned. But either way, I still wouldn't put I'm in the class of the selmy, dayne and jaimes of the world. They are something special, per GRRM

[@filipkaludjerovic2037]

Darkstar Dayne naybe?

[@riftie7681]

I always saw Ned as more of a brawler, a fighter as opposed to Jamie’s swordsman. Jamie would win in a straight fight but in a battle with distractions Ned might be able to take advantage/play a bit dirty to win.

[@christianrobinson4227]

The show definitely made him a very skilled warrior to make the scenes better, which I fully support. His fight with Jaime is one of the best parts of season 1.

[@bridge4]

"which i fully support." hah no doubt. i totally hear ya. it definitely made for a cooler scene than in the books. the only troublesome part is that a lot of fans see jaime as trying to kill ned, when i dont think there's a chance he would have done that with Tyrion as hostage. whats ur take on that?

[@christianrobinson4227]

I think it makes more sense if Jaime was not trying to kill him, with the obvious reason being that Tyrion would certainly be killed by Catelyn if Ned was killed, just like Ned says before the fight. However, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Jaime was trying to kill him anyway. Many authors describe their characters as reckless and impulsive, but few actually have these traits to an extreme level. Jaime Lannister lives to kill, and engaging him in a fight is probably like a lion hunting it's prey. The lion forgets everything else around him and listens to it's instincts. It's very possible that Jaime was like "fuck it," and decided that if Ned wants to throw down, he's going to kill him anyway. He doesn't think long term whatsoever.

[@bridge4]

i like your post. bc i agree with ur first statement, but its always healthy to have an open mind. well thought out, sir!! side note, i liek interprettying it as him not wanting to kill Ned, because then it makes jaime look pretty good since it would imply he was confident, and successfully, fighting 80% versus ned at 100% so to say. and if u arent fighting to kill you, are at a severe disavantge, which would speak to his skill set in "break even" anyway, thanks again for sharing ur ideas!

[@christianrobinson4227]

No problem! Thank you for yours!

[@joaotiagobrazao22]

You need to do a video of the top 10 fighters in game of thrones/asoiaf

[@bridge4]

+Tiago Brazão eventually. I need to fiMish a reread of the books tho since I haven't read them in a few years. I'm almost done with ACOK, but still a long way to go :)

[@bridge4]

+Tiago Brazão awesome avatar btw!

[@joaotiagobrazao22]

Thanks man! :)

[@bridge4]

+Tiago Brazão u got it!

[@philh2453]

Agreed, something similar to the tallest video. Should we start the list? Barristan Selmy, Arthur Dayne, Aero Hotah, Symeon Star-Eyes, Duncan the Tall, Aemon Targaryen... who else?

[@DarkCrowI]

Aragorn would beat Jaime, he has over 40 years more experience under his belt and was trained partially by Elrond who is one of the greatest worriers in Middle Earth

[@bridge4]

i concur. i think that was silly of george to say

[@upgrayddable]

Elrond had much to worry over.

[@DarkCrowI]

Andrew Wang I don't know how old Jaime is

[@brendanfechter4889]

Jaime is early to mid thirties in the book.

[@OhMeGaGS]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't necessarily recall Aragorn dueling any competent swordsmen, he just hacks through orks all the time. Not that orks are an easy prey but there are degrees of magnitude between a grunt and a duelist. We never acutally witness anything close to an actual swordfight on his part.

[@Brandon210-q4n]

From memory, Ned was more of a commander. In fact, I think I read somewhere the he was the one who was largely responsible for the battlefield victories in Robert's Rebellion as a commander.

[@random_eskimo_in_the_rockies]

Since we only have a short fight scene to judge in the TV series to judge from, we have to consider what we heard told about Ned. The greatest comment on Ned's ability came from Barristan the Bold himself: when they walk out of the tent Ser Hugh of the Vale was being cared for in, Ned commented that he was glad he never met Ser Barristan on the field of battle and implied he knew he would be dead (I agree with that completely.) However, Barristan was quick to praise Eddard, saying: "You're too modest. I've seen you cut down a dozen great knights." Ser Barristan was not one to pass out false praise, nor to lie. Cutting down a dozen great knights is no small feat, and it's not something to be done by an ordinary fighter.

[@terrygracy8345]

And. While he respects Jaimie’s sword play never once says he beat a great opponent

[@silasg3650]

I think that George R.R.'s assessment of Boromir as comparable to Aragorn is incorrect. Aragorn was a master swordsman, possibly the greatest in Middle-earth. He had 60+ years of fighting experience, which is longer than Boromir had been alive and Aragorn's body was technically closer to its prime than Boromir. This is without even mentioning that Aragorn has some almost magical properties due to his lineage and royal blood. There is no reasonable situation in which Aragorn would not beat Boromir. That said, I think George has kind of overrated Boromir. But, even so, I think he has to a much greater extent underrated Aragorn (who would certainly demolish Jaimie lannister. Greatest evidence being that while in Game of Thrones people found it impressive that Jaimie could defeat as many as a dozen men by himself. However, Aragorn was known to fight off dozens upon dozens of trained urukhai alone. Any professional swordsman would tell you that fighting multiple opponents is almost always more impressive than fighting more skilled opponents in small numbers. Aragorn would have absolutely destroyed Jaimie. And Boromir would not necessarily have defeated Aragorn. Unlike Aragorn, Boromir mostly fought with an army, not alone as a ranger. He rarely had opportunities to fight lots of people alone. So he was a much less impressive fighter.

[@bridge4]

george didnt compare aragorn and boromir. i did a quick internet search and, at best, boromir is equal to aragorn. so if Jaime > aragorn/boromir > Ned, then Jaime > Ned and if we assume that george thinks Aragorn > Boromir, it makes the Jaime vs Ned gap even bigger

[@mauger7202]

nah boromir could actually probadly beat aragorn in 1v1 combat just saying this beacause aragorn nerver really fights against a guy like boromir borormir would probadly win beacause he is way stronger than aragorn and he could take way more beating and had a shield he also was nearly on aragorns level with swordsmanship

[@leblubblab]

damn, if only Ned Stark had a shield, he would probably be the best fighter in Westeros

[@Benjydav]

I suspect you are basing your opinions of Borimir a little on the movies than the books. What you have to understand is that Aragorn in the books is 6'6" and lean. Boromir is described as slightly shorter than Aragorn and much bigger built so much so that a very tall man an elf and a Dwarf known for strength struggled to carry his body. Most ppl place his height at about 6'4". He's also not that old. He fought and killed many more orcs in the books at his death than in the show and he was no slouch in the show. So It would be a 6'4" powerhouse with excellent sword fighting skills vs an average sized world weary Ned who admitted himself he would have died at the Tower of Joy if it weren't for little Howland Reed.

[@bridge4]

benjamin... your write up is pretty cool. that [aints a picture of Ned standing no shot, which is what i see from of you LOTR wizards i never realized how sick Aragorn and Boromir was. well, i realized they were sick in their own world. but didnt realize how good they would be relative to other fantasy words but as always, ill chyme in and say, my boy drizzt do'urden would wreck shop on them all :-P

[@dalevelasco9348]

How can jaime be more of a fighter than aragorn, when aragorn is a dunedain! Trained by the elves..

[@bridge4]

+dale velasco good question. Ull have to ask george tho, bc I dpoint have an answer lol

[@kyledayton7829]

Trained by Noldor elves.

[@luke6612]

I think it boils down to Ned's own comments (show version), that he is not a tourney fighter. He could hold his own enough to take down the every day soldier*, and even last a while against the greats, but his strength was in leading his armies to victory on a battlefield, not 1on1 fights, and Northern armies were among the strongest. Ned was a great leader, not a great fighter. *We have to keep in mind, the ever day soldier fighting in a war, were just regular men most of the time, and if they had ever even swung a sword before, it wasn't since the last war (or previous battle of the current one). They weren't constantly training in some castle waiting to be called up to fight. For a trained lord, defeating them would be easy, even several at once.

[@bridge4]

great point about the regular men fighting. im rewatching "the last kingdom" right now and i see something similar. sometimes, medieval armies didnt even have enough steel for their soldiers. so they used farm weapons. thats insane!

[@cammyo5931]

Hi Luke!! So glad to see you here! Yay!👍👏

[@luke6612]

Hiya Cammy!

[@SantomPh]

Ned ,like Robb would always have a personal guard to fight alongside him- the North has a great tradition of fighting ahead of your lord, so he would have the likes of Willem Dustin, Greatjon Umber, Jeor Mormont, Lord Cerywn, a not so fat Wyman Manderley and Rickard Karstark -like Samurai or Vikings, northerners never fight alone.

[@Ryoko53027]

i just wanna say i appreciate that you use the light blue border in your thumbnails, bc it helps me find your content faster, vs the other, imo, not as good or entertaining GoT channels. I really enjoy your stuff!! :D

[@bridge4]

Thanks for the kind words and support :))

[@tardcore4life]

I always pictured Ned as a tough, strategic, utilitarian fighter. Not the best by any means but deliberate and determined. Also, I kind of thought Ned avoided fighting in tournaments at least partially to avoid scrutiny of his fighting abilities versus his version of the events at the Tower of Joy. You could tell that Jaime was probing a bit because he didn't quite believe that Ned could have killed Arthur Dayne.

[@DarthSmirnoff]

IMO, I think people are confusing "Battlefield" fighter vs "Dueling" fighter.

[@kevinthekev1979]

First of all, Lord Eddard was a great fighter but not an elite one. He could best any opponent beyond the greats one on one but in terms of being a general he was without equal beyond his 'two' eldest sons Robb and Jon who are both nigh undefeatable. He only defeated ser Arthur due to Lord Howland Reed's assitiance in cutting off part of said Kingsguard's sword hand. Thus, resulting in the Sword of the Morning agreeing to take the 'Black' and a new persona

[@kevinthekev1979]

You know what is funny? Reading your own comment and agreeing before you realized you wrote it.

[@kevinthekev1979]

Sorry, I hate autocorrect and disabled it.

[@bridge4]

:)))

[@chrisbarrett8377]

Yoren Halfhand is NOT Arthur Dayne. What blasphemy

[@serjaimelannister5152]

Eddard still is a trained capable fighter.

[@joshuapedrosa2536]

How about Legolas Vs all of Got characters? Lol.

[@bridge4]

lol ill take legolas

[@rahul0000nm]

Well lets see Legolas vs Melisandre shadow monster baby......... I think Legolas would loose

[@joshuapedrosa2536]

Rahul Kashyap we're talking about sword fight here. not magic.

[@mauger7202]

yeah gandalf or any other wizards would rape melisandre or the night king probadly aswell because they are basically gods

[@tyebrown2741]

Joshua Pedrosa I'll match up Legolas vs Brynden Rivers probably one of the best bowman in the history of westeros

[@Ac3Saint]

Show-Ned was a television protagonist, so it's only natural the writers want him to be elevated as a greater warrior than Book-Ned is. I truly believe a one-on-one sword fight between Jaime and Ned in the books would be a mismatch. Ned is described more as a good battle commander than a warrior. Although I look forward to the book's version of events at the ToJ to actually see how Ned fared in that battle. I suspect he was saved by the numbers (and probably a back stabbing incident at the end of the fight like the show). I don't really see why Ned fans care about this aspect of him that much anyway. Let the blowhards like Jaime Lannister bum about their abilities, when in reality battles are fought with numbers, tactics and strategy - and surely Ned would beat Jaime in this sense as his son did.

[@bridge4]

+Ac3Saint absolutely. Well said! Reminds me of jaime at whispering wood. Slaying a ton of people, bUT at the end of the day, his side lost

[@Warp2567]

In the show, Ned is as good as Jaime since they both fought to a draw. And Ned fought Arthur Dayne for more than one minute and survived

[@suleymanbabak1973]

yeah but Dayne was also probably fatigued due to having faced six other guys at once

[@ProGamer-yj3ri]

@@suleymanbabak1973 true and he is joking with Ned,if he want to kill him he will do it quickly.

[@anthonylewis6265]

It was not a draw

[@Warp2567]

@@anthonylewis6265 actually it was. One of Jaime's men intervened and slashed Ned's leg.

[@Warp2567]

@@MAN_FROM_BEYOND how would you know Jaime would have won if not for his soldier intervening? Even in the show, he told Ned he was good competition

[@nooneyouknowof]

I haven't read the books, but from the context of the show, and even the sample of the script, it would seem they implied Ned and Jaimie to be roughly equals. Also on the show Ned had Syrio train Arya and implied they were friends, so they might have trained together as fellow warriors too.

[@Kriegerdammerung]

Here I will show the X Factor, the fight between Jaime and Eddard *looked* balanced because the early warning of the latter to the former "you kill me, your brother (Tyrion) is a dead man" that's why Jaime did not end Ned rightly, he could but instead he preferred not to fight vigorously.

[@bridge4]

Definitely

[@Kriegerdammerung]

Now I've got second thoughts, I have read all the books up to half ADWD (So I'm still reading the fifth) and I realise the fight of Ned and Jaime never happened in the books and Jaime got many more men than in the show. Was Jaime aware of the risk that implied facing Ned toe-to-toe? Also I re-watched this video again, oddly enough there is clarification about the events in the books, I don't know why I missed that important piece of information :/

[@shipking1995]

Ned is the Eli manning of sword fighting

[@bridge4]

+shipking1995 lol i think I mentioenRd a sports analogy. I vaguely recall leaving out names sonce I didn't want to mess em up. But I was gonna say jaime is eli, technically better...but ned is Brady.he wins :)

[@mattdub5795]

bridge4 you got that analogy all messed up lol

[@joeofdoom]

The funny thing about fights is that no matter how skilled or strong you are it doesn't guarantee a win so top 10 lists are of very limited in the scope of what they describe. Its less a matter of who would win and more of who is more likely to win.

[@nymeriadarkstorm3239]

I think Jon Snow is a better fighter than Ned. He has beaten a Thenn warrior, a White Walker, and Quorin Halfhand (realizing there is argument that the Halfhand let him win). One similarity between the two is their bravery in the face of danger. Jon Snow faced down the Bolton army in the Battle of the Bastards with the same courage that Ned had in the fight at the Tower of Joy. That kind of courage puts them both above average, considering neither of them have been killed in battle.

[@bridge4]

+Brianne Kennedy ur last sentence reminds me of a line I left out of this video. I was gonna make a comparison to LeBron vs Jordan or Brady vs manning and trying saying something like "there are the those that are technically the best and those that are winners" But I don't follow either of those sports well enough to know if the names I chose were correct, so I left it out But I hear ya. They are winners in my book *sam tarly also killed a white walker :-P

[@Saber0003]

Jon's honestly more lucky than good. Quorin lets him win, and Jon himself admits that had it been real, the Halfhand would have cut him to ribbons. I think we have an unrealistic view of Jon's fighting ability. We saw him toying with the other Nights Watch recruits, but every real fight since then has been an absolute struggle, where he mostly escapes/survives by luck. I'm not trying to say he's bad, but he's not as good as the elite level swordsmen we've seen.

[@bridge4]

i used to totally agree with you. recently, ive read some lines in the books about jon constantly training. so im reserving judgement on jon until i get through the books on a reread bc a lot of stuff is hazy n my memory...like his fight wth Mance Rayder..

[@Saber0003]

That's fair. Its always good to brush up on facts, there's so much to go over its easy to forget a lot of things. From what I remember about the sparring session with Mance, is that Jon is completely caught off guard by his speed, and technique, but to be fair to Jon, Mance was glamoured to look like Rattleshirt, so its possible Jon was underestimating his opponent based off his looks. Like I said, I think Jon is a good fighter, just maybe not a great one. In any case, I think it's better to be lucky than good, you can't beat luck.

[@bridge4]

+Saber0003 well said! Without luck, jon woudlve been a goner multiple times over in the BOTB by itself. I loved the one. Where the dude on a horse was cming at him and then another horse randomly flies into that horse at full.speed. thst scene was total insanity...and jon got lucky a few times. Oh yeah, the arrows tO start out the chain of luck :)

[@malekiththeeternityking5433]

Aragorn would fuck up Jaime

[@deformiertergolfball4847]

every lotr char would be better then any got char :D

[@overload81]

oh, then let´s have sam gumshie vs khal drogo. ;-)

[@deformiertergolfball4847]

:D i dont know why but i think i would pay to see that XD

[@FingolfinEladar]

Bloodraptor 0 sam would win only if khal drogo had poisoned and paralized frodo😂

[@deformiertergolfball4847]

XD

[@-.-..._...-.-]

1 on 1 fights don't really matter anyway, unless you are an assassin like Arya or are in a spot where you need to have a trial by combat but if you were a smart lord you wouldn't get in those situations. Better question to ask is would you rather have 3 dragons or 1000 Sir Arthur Daynes? Then think about the show where how an army fights is not more important than anything else as the show doesn't follow basic battle logic, spearmen getting destroyed by cavalry, using longswords as short swords, blades easily going through plate, no helmets in battle etc.

[@derkreuzritter6789]

I think that Ned Stark COULD have been a top fighter if he had competed in tourneys and such, he had the potential to be a top 3 fighter if not the top fighter in Westeros. He just didn't want to compete and just wanted to rule over the North.

[@argalacdurrandon5271]

Dumb question. Why did ned went there with only seven men? I know they were his friend,but he was leading an army to end the siege of Storm's end,so he could bring with him a lot more troops.

[@bridge4]

thats not a dumb quesiton. thats a great question. u know what. ive been trying to collect a bunch of comments to put together a list of "fan theories", but im gonna try to put together a list of 10 questions like this and make my first Q&A video but for now, i have NO idea. im going to have to brainstorm it and/or scan the internet for answers ur right...seems strange... and it seems like a poor decision...

[@argalacdurrandon5271]

thanks for replying man,i really like your videos. the only explanation I have in mind is that ned knew that something strange was going on between Rhaegar and Lyanna,and he kenw that those other six men would have kept as a secret everything they would have discovered in the tower of joy. howland did never reveal anything fo what we know Sorry for my english btw,it's not my native language

[@Benjydav]

Cool story telling moment is why :). Even in a well written book there has to be moments that are for "art's sake" otherwise nothing would ever happen.

[@bridge4]

yeah, i struggled to find an answer. this is the best answer i bet hey benjamin. do u happen to have 2 youtube accounts. ive sseen comments by a "ben davidson" and then yourself, benjamin davison (with the D). probably just a coincidence tho...

[@Benjydav]

It is a coincidence as I really do only have one account. Both names are pretty common to be fair and often people just add the D for the hell of it even in professional settings like the bank and the hospital which is a bit worrying.

[@tsherman393]

Still a great leader and man, which is more deadly. Kev gives a great commentary, as usual.

[@bridge4]

Thanks :))

[@herbthompson8937]

Jaime says he would beat Bobby B, so he's not one of the three. The show took that from the book where Jaime says there's three fighters who were stronger than him but that hed still beat them with speed and skill

[@scottmaughan1053]

I liked this video not just because the content was good but also because of how much you tried to take into account everyone’s opinion

[@TUNA-hj7bp]

You know what I love most about Game of Thrones, NO SWORDFIGHTS FOR LEGENDARY FIGHTERS, and Ned was praised by Barristan Selmy, Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Jaime Lannister, and everyone in the north.

[@eclecticcerebro8287]

They pretty much shattered Ned being one of the elites, when Sir Arther Dayne, damn near killed him by himself, against like 5 of his guys lol

[@joniron77]

I wanna know where Stannis ranks in the list, he's seems as being a pretty decent fighter in the show, but I'm not sure about the books other than everyone says he get shat on in the show vs the books.

[@tyebrown2741]

Stannis well he will know how I fight but he's more of a general in the books than a fighter he is more like Tywin Lannister and leads from behind in battle where his skills are of better use. He will Certainly know how to fight and could probably beat most semi or untrained opponents but he's very gaunt in the books not really a warrior at heart like Robert

[@unhappyad7886]

Jon McCartney He is brilliant commander but not good fighter

[@joniron77]

Well, so i mean in the show he's seen in a couple of fights being pretty decent and leads the charge in the battle of the blackwater and when ramsay charges him at winterfell he survives the first wave and most likely a pretty crazy fight, if you look at the battle of the bastards, the position that Jon was in and how crazy it was on the ground, Stannis was very likely in a similar situation and made it through, and then fought off two more guys that we see. So, if we just look at the show where would he rank in say a top 50 fighters/warriors of westeros?

[@tyebrown2741]

Jon McCartney I think stannis ranks no where near the top 50 fighters in westeros there is literlaly hundreds of minor nobles who all they really have is their ability to fight who are landed knights or hedge knights. Stannis one of the best generals but is not a warrior

[@ZombieChimpanzee]

I feel like the Ned Vs Jamie fight was a more cautious fight, since Jamie didn't know if Ned was messing with him or deceiving him in his skills, and Ned was probably a well above average fighter, but he wasn't a top tier fighter.

[@aatifalikhan7706]

Quorin was probably one of the best fighters in Westerosi history. Let us consider the following facts: - He was the best in The Watch - He got his sword hand cut off, and trained to become even better than before with his other hand. That's the stuff of legend. - He probably has more experience than anyone else in the books: He probably joined the watch at about Jon's age and was probably around 50 at the time of the books, which means he had been risking his life on a daily (or at least weekly) basis for about 35 years. - Even at his age, he was known to be incredibly quick, faster probably than Oberyn or Loras - He never fought with a shield

[@bramsteenhoek2674]

Not oberyn. That Guy jumps around like a fucking tropical bird.

[@readysetmood9473]

He was good, he was pretty young when they fought 3 skilled kingsguard in the tower of joy.

[@chimeranangel]

Ned may not be the best but he'd probably have experience fighting people better than him. I'd say he's actually probably a dirtier fighter at least than we give him credit for. Consider the fact that he trained with Robert Baratheon for near on 10 years (who was already said to be incredibly strong for his age). I'm sure he's learned some tactics for surviving a 1 on 1 with someone who outclasses him. Plus with Yohn Royce's bit, Waymar was meant to be recruited fairly recently if memory serves, so Ned probably fought Bronze Yohn at around 10 years after his last real fight (even then he was a commander not a front line soldier, if I recall). And I honestly can't take Martin's rankings seriously if he truely believes Jaime Lannister could beat Aragorn in a fight.

[@iannewman3559]

Rather off topic but I think a lot of people leave out the fact that Aragorn is 87 years old during the times of the movies, thus he would be significantly more experienced than Jammie would have been.

[@cameronbarnes9724]

The fight between jaime and ned looked pretty even to me neither one landed one hit ned looked pretty sharp to be an old man fighting jaime in his prime id say they were pretty even givin that was neds only fight scene 1 vs 1

[@azapro911]

He wasn't one of the absolute greats, nor did he ever claim to be, in fact he often spoke in reverent terms of superior swordsmen such as Arthur Dayne. But he had tremendous heart and courage, which even his enemies greatly admired.

[@caitlinbrewer4843]

It be interesting to see Jon and​ Jaime fight now. Jaime was dismissive of Jon early on but a lot has happened since then...

[@bridge4]

+Caitlin Brewer jaimes regressed and jon's advanced... wss unfair backthen...and unfair now in reverse imo Think jaime stands a shot now, wrh his left?

[@arthurdayne1190]

Caitlin Brewer Jaime with both hands would win by a long shot

[@damonwade6591]

Caitlin Brewer if jamie had his hand then jon would get whooped yes jon is great but jamie was better

[@rahul0000nm]

Jon vs Bronn......Bronn i think because he doesnt fight pretty(with honor)

[@bridge4]

+Rahul Kashyap I'd take bronn....or jon by plot armor :-P

[@lovebattleforge]

I dunno, Aragorn has been alive for 80 or 90 years, and hes still "young" cuz of the royal blood he has. I imagine hes been training for a big part of his life with elves and other humans. And fighting the various creatures and enemies in the lotr universe. I think he can beat Jaime.

[@vipset87]

Ive been aware of your channel since inception, idk what took me so long to subscribe. Just saw your stannis video and was completely impressed. Been watching your vids since. Theyre inspiring me to re-read the series for a 5th or 6th time. Learn something new everytime

[@bridge4]

I learn on a daily basis too. The series is so dense. It's unreal! Thank you BTW :)

[@vipset87]

@@bridge4 just officially subbed. I see NJ is your profile pic. I wont ask or devle into ur personal stuff but diggin the NJ profile pic as im from central jersey in edison. Are you familiar or close by?

[@bridge4]

sparta

[@johnjanssen4218]

You mentioned that Ned's confidence at the tower of joy may have come from the numbers advantage but neglected the fact that the first thing he said to Dayne was "I looked for you on the Trident" which to me sounds like Ned was eager to fight him advantage or not. Maybe younger Ned just had the confidence of youth. Having just cut down several great knights as Barristan Selmy put it, and never fighting a swordsman of Dayne's caliber before, it is entirely plausible if not probable Ned was confident because he believed he was a match for anyone at that time in his life.

[@taikaliso357]

I think aragorn would win the fight simply because he has skills as a ranger and a lifetime of experience with his slow aging. I believe jaime would have had an advantage in sword combat but aragorn would compensate with "dirty" tactics like headbutts during a clinch and using his knife, much in the same way bronn fights in the show.

[@Writtenmirror]

If Oberyn wasn't jumping around like a fairy he'd have ended the mountain. His actual combat moves reminded me of Kilic in soul caliber though 🔥🙌🏾

[@omegaonthefly1977]

I just realized something. If you look at 2:55, pause, and read the final paragraph on the first page it says that the knight (Ser Gerold Hightower) died among his brothers Ser Arther Dayne and Ser Oswell Whent while fighting against quote “A small force commanded by Eddard Stark of Winterfell”. So my question is was Whent actually there despite not seeing him during the fight in the show? That would explain why two of Eddard’s fighters are missing and why Whent isn’t in the scene during the actual fight.

[@tomdeming]

Robb Stark > Jon Snow. Jon Snow admits this.

[@bobhoskins9509]

Yes but Jon Snow is very humble so he would say that regardless

[@bridge4]

Yeah I was mistaken in a way. In show version,Jon says robb was better at everything In books, I think Jon says robb better with a lance, but he (jon) was better with the sword

[@w27sav31]

Show Jon did consider Robb better than him at everything, but Jon learnt from experiences throughout all the series and used those lessons to his advantage! Most glaring example is when Karl tanner nearly killed Jon At craster’s keep by spitting in Jon’s face to get the upper hand, Jon later goes on to use the same trick to kill Styr the magna of the Fenn. Overall Jon learnt his lessons far better than Robb and ended up the better man/leader/king

[@daveruda]

It seems like Jon had a greater development as a fighter. Becoming part of the elite.

[@willberman1562]

They were both kids when they parted, and Jon got more formal training at castle black. Robb may have been better in combat and strategy when they were together, but IMO Jon quickly surpasses Robb before the Red Wedding

[@AlStone2]

You really can't use the books as an argument for how good show Ned is. It's obvious that though Ned was average in the books, they gave him a serious boost in the show, probably due to being the main character. Selmy praises him as a great fighter, Jaime praises him and draws with him when they fight with Jaime actually seeming to struggle more, Littlefinger refers to him as a more impressive specimen than his brother (opposite from the books), his banter with Robert implies he used to playfully bully Robert, he kills Gerold Hightower in a pretty 1 on 1 moment and holds his own against Dayne for a considerable amount of time. Please tell me how the hell this guy isn't a top tier fighter?

[@bridge4]

depends how u define top tier. do u put him in the same tier as dayne?

[@AlStone2]

bridge4 no but Jaime yes and everyone always calls Jaime top tier. Dayne and Selmy seem to be more in a league of their own. Going off show feats alone, the top tier fighters would be Brienne, Oberyn, probably Bronn and maybe the hound. Though Jon has also been seriously boosted up from the books.

[@bridge4]

+Al Stone I rank jaime wirh dayne and selmy based on an interview where grrm says jaime can beat aragorn and "two handed jaime, one of the great swordsmen in the history if westeros" (jaime beating aragorn seems silly to most lotr fans, but that's besides the point. I just use that line to vouch for how highly grrm intended jaime to come across) It's all subjective tho, so I hear ya if you want to put selmy and dayne above him Grrm said those two were equal tho, unless dayne has dawn, then dayne since selmy is at a disadvantage wirh regular steel. Would be cool if he compared dayne wirh dawn to selmy with valyrian steel in order t get an idea of how dawn ranks vs valyrian steel

[@AlStone2]

bridge4 my only concern with GRM is that he speaks about his original vision for the books. I just think it's interesting to compare that with the way they're solely represented on the show. I'm sure book Jaime is that good, in fact if GRM says he is then that's pretty much the final word. As for Aragorn not so much. I mean GRM could say Jaime takes Aragorn, Conan and Achilles with one hand if he felt like it.

[@bridge4]

+Al Stone hehe I hear ya. Well said

[@rodrigoantolinez7068]

GRRM said he wasn't elite but he wrote the books, in the show Ned was upscaled plus the sword Dawn was supposed to give the guy magical skills, making up for the lack of men

[@bridge4]

did u Ice? I dont think Ned every fought with Dawn. supposedly he returned it to the Daynes...

[@renegade4563]

Can you do a video about your thoughts on Randyll Tarly? Known to be one of the best commanders but can't really put a finger on if he was a good fighter or not.

[@cocoliso1996]

you said that ned dosent count in jaime top 3 beacause he is dead but you put robert and arthur wtf.

[@miguelsantiago8792]

Lol

[@SoundwaveSC]

I'm fairly sure George R. R. Martin said in an interview that the Show version of Ned would in fact have defeated Jamie.

[@bridge4]

if you ever come across that interview, please let me know! that would be huge

[@pangriffiths5318]

yeah, its intersting that you mentioned Neds confidence going in to the fight, like he clearly wasnt worried about losing(maybe it was the odds idk). is there some kind of record of ADs feats? is it possible his reputation was exaggerated, or is it confirmed hes the best by GRRM?

[@bridge4]

its confirmed offline that Dayne and Selmy were equal (unless dayne is using Dawn, then Dayne has the advantage since Selmy didn't have a valyrian steel sword). and in the same interview, he mentioned Jaime as "one of the great swordsman in the history of westeros" while saying that Ned was more of a commander, nobleman, leader, diplomat show Ned was pretty badass tho. better than book Ned but a common misconception is that Jaime was trying to kill Ned. there's no proof he wasn't, but it doesn't make sense. Tyrion was hostage at the time. and in the books, he doesn't even fight Ned. he just tells his men to kill everyone but Ned and rides away later in the show, Jaime tells Tywin that he couldn't kill Ned because it wasn't fair once he was stabbed through the leg. but i truly don't think he was even trying, because unlike Tywin, Jaime loved Tyrion. and he wouldn't kill Ned at that point since Cat had Tyrion just my 2 cents =)

[@pangriffiths5318]

thank you for taking the time :) and yeah i agree actually i think Jlann wanted to see whether Ned had really beaten AD in single combat but he definitely wasnt trying to kill him because yeah he really loves his bro :)

[@TGDwwfc]

When Ned says he doesn't compete in tourneys, he is referring to tilts and other show events. In the North, melées are much more popular and it's likely Ned would have competed in these.

[@bridge4]

Goodpoint

[@DannyBoyle-tp5vg]

Ned Stark was not an Elite fighter, not at all. Robert Baratheon was better than Ned, and Robert was not Elite. If we are talking Elite characters, then yes, Ned is top 3 easily.

[@jimbeaux89]

I do think lord eddard stark was a tad underrated. I don’t think he matches up with selmy or Jaime Lannister, I think Ned is in the next bracket down as far as skill with the sword.

[@bridge4]

Tier 2 would be sandor and co. I could see show ned being tier 2

[@leseratte3546]

@@bridge4 I have a question in you're how skilled was Quorin Halfhand you put Ned in Tier 4 and I was wondering if you meant book or Show Ned.

[@bridge4]

@@leseratte3546 in the notes for episode 1 (when jaime stepped in front of ned) they said "two of the great swordsmen of Westeros." And I guess technically it could be a teir 4 or 5 fighter since even tier 5 is something like the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent But considering his duel with jaime that only happens in the show, I view show ned as hollywood ned. So tier 1 or 2. I guess 2 since dayne is 1 and he schooled ned. But then again, ned was young then. So one could argue that he got better and now rivals the best, which is a healthy, two-handed jaime lannister It's all subjective tho since we would need many fights to get a true feel since any trained fighter can win on any given day (in the words of barristan in the books, the difference would be as simple as a slip of the footing or what someone had the night before for dinner (paraphrasing...and I think he was saying it in terms of joust but same concept in terms of a single fight as opposed to "best of 10" if such a thing were possible) What do you think?

[@bridge4]

@@leseratte3546 I see qhorin is o e kf the best tho. Way better than book ned. Qhorin tier 2. And I wouldnt argue anyone who said tier 1

[@leseratte3546]

@@bridge4 so who do you think would win The hound or Qhorin Halfhand

[@yocean14]

One element that need to be consider is his Varylian steel The Ice. That would put advantage on Ned in most fights against other swordsmen, including Jaime.

[@bridge4]

ned didnt use ice in battle. it was too big a sword. he used it just for chopping off people's head iirc

[@yocean14]

bridge4 Good point. I've forgotten that. I guess most family don't use their valyrian steel beyond ceremonial reason because they are too valuable? Targaryens seemed to use them in battle often though.

[@Revenant2010]

One thing is that Barristan stated that he was glad not to have fought Ned during Robert's Rebellion.

[@bridge4]

+DMatthiasCoyle I think he wss just being polite. Show ned was pretty good tho, so maybe he wss serious

[@dcarriere1890]

I think he may have been a bit better than you're giving him credit for. GRRM said "Boromir, probably", but that wasn't a solid "Yes", that was a maybe. No question I think Jaime is better. So he's not an elite fighter, but he's better than most. Maybe a gatekeeper to the next level?

[@bridge4]

i hear ya. GRRM has said conflicting stuff. one time, he ignores the question sort of and says he's a nobleman, a diplomat. and the next he is saying he can beat Boromir lol but considering how he said Jaime (who is awesome) can beat Aragorn, I'm thinking that GRRM either doesn't understand the LOTR power levels, or he was having an off day I still look at ned as like a tier 4 or tier 5 fighter (in the books), but keep in kind, i see tier 5 as better than 99.99% of the world (athletic person trained by a master at arms) show Ned is probably tier 2. nearly prime Jaime's equal (tier 1)

[@bridge4]

but thats just my opinion. i wont argue with ya either way. not enough to go on so it's up for interpretation which is pretty cool =)

[@dcarriere1890]

Compromise, he's the top of tier 4, beat him and you're tier 3?

[@bridge4]

I could see that :)) I'm gradually doing fighter videos. So far i did qhorin as 2/3, but I'm gonna move him to 2 in future videos. And syrio as tier 1, but I'm gonna move him to 2 as well so as to differentiate between the true tier 1 like dayne/selmy So it's sort of a work in progress. I need to start analyzing the likes of thoros, greatjon, garlan, the cleganes, loras, brienne, dhaario, bronze bronze yohn, robb stark, mandon more and other kings guard etc. Once I do that ad start seeing some tier 3s and tier 4s, I'll have a better feel people who I see as tier 4 and 5. Calling them 4 or 5 ahead of time can seem insulting. But really, tiers 1 through 5 are all elite. So once we start filling out all the tiers, tier 4 and 5 might not look so bad. Like let's pretend greatjon is 3 (maybe 2,but let's pretend 3). If he's 3, then I feel like there's no shame for someone like ned to be tier 4 My problem now is that I keep envisioning so maNY people as tier 2, but I need to get more granular As an example, I see sandor, gregor, and brienne as relatively equal. But instead of all tier 2. I might say sandor tier 2 and gregor/brienne tier 3. Or maybe they are the same tier, since a tier is a bandwidth. But my struggle right now is creating too wide a band width instead of just bumping people down a tier :))

[@dcarriere1890]

Just so we're clear, I'm really enjoying your take on these. Keep it up! Even if I may disagree a bit with some of your points.

[@lelouche25]

He survived two wars and fought at the front never back.

[@SantomPh]

He did, but beside some legends loke Barristan Selmy and Robert Baratheon.

[@z.z3925]

Generally the little people not supposed to kill top people. And if they do own people kill them.

[@dhlhthriwdhskissos9606]

one of the mistakes ned did in fighting (as seen when he fought arthur dayne) was that he never used a second blade. in his fight with dayne he did not use his dagger and was in a tough place. if he used a second blade from time to time , like jaimie , he would be a little be better , maybe in the elite of westeros warriors

[@SamuraiChris78]

I agree with this assessment! Ned would have needed to be good enough to be taken seriously as a leader nothing more and I think his attitude and decision making reflected this.

[@DrunkenSailer]

Why am I thinking that Arthur Dayne had Ned beat when Harlon Reed snuck up behind him and killed him unhonorably. Doesn't change that Ned ain't top tier but I want to know where that idea is in my head from

[@bridge4]

ur right. he had de-sworded ned (is that a word?) kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZvSdpmCe9Rpl68

[@DrunkenSailer]

Haha the idea comes from literally what happened in the show

[@bridge4]

+Luke Cahill lol. I don't drink often, so I'm a lightweight. And i am right now...so my mijd isnt all there. I just read your second message incorrectly. I thought u were yelling at me. Lol I was like "I was just tryna be friendly" :-/ Lol. Now I get it. Haha ur funny

[@cardwitch91]

I think Howland probably just threw his net over him. It was a free-for-all, no one told Howland he wasn't allowed to use a spear and net! :)

[@narellewooding8319]

Unhonorably? What was reed suppose to do? Waited till he killed his liege lord than be killed as well

[@eimhinpierce2428]

Eddard in my opinion is top 25 to top 20 in my opinion which would make him elite not the best but elite

[@objektiivseltjaserviti6407]

Cant say top 6, but Arya Stark, Jon Snow, ser Arthur Dayne, ser Barristan Selmy, Grey Worm and Jaime Lannister are the very best

[@mrtotheextreme]

I wouldn't put Grey Worm above the likes of Brienne, Hound, Mountain, and Oberyn.

[@objektiivseltjaserviti6407]

@@mrtotheextreme Oh, totally forget about Brienne and Oberyn. Brienne beat Hound btw. and Mountain is just a big guy who got smashed by Oberyn. So it is top 8 and we cant say who is better. They are all good, very good (with Ramsay voice, when meeting with Jon). Unsullied are trained from childhood, dont forget that and Grey Worm are the best of them. If it is Grey Worm vs Oberyn, then my money would be on unsullied guy because this guy is just an animal, trained to kill all his life. His life's purpose is to fight. This is why it is hard to kill him. Do not underestimate the leader of unsullied.

[@Emberbro]

Does anyone have a link to the mtv vid when George compared the characters? I can’t find a complete list of his judgements.

[@bridge4]

GRRM interview judging LOTR and ASOIAF matchups: www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/MTV_Worldcon_Interview_Versus

[@Emberbro]

bridge4 the video isn’t available anymore. =[

[@aidanhendricksen4832]

Book wise comparing Boromir to Aragorn, edge goes to Boromir, the man decapitated a warg with one swing using a onehanded sword where Aragorn stabbed the warg with a legendary two handed sword

[@Jockeylotforfun]

Grrm has a purpose for choosing Borimor over ned also. The TOJ story is just incomplete and untrue. I believe a lot of those men were given the option to take the black and they did!

[@bridge4]

+The Lady Olenna Tyrell think so? Why would the lie about it then for all these years...as part of the cover up of Jon snow? And what happened to them? Died serving the black? Mance rayder?

[@cammyo5931]

The Lady Olenna Tyrell Take the black means to join the Nights Watch correct? And hey!😉

[@Jockeylotforfun]

Cammy, Hey! yes it means to join the night's watch. to take the black. Hope you're having a good day

[@carriezen8499]

Hi Cammy! Thats correct, take the black is join nights watch. Hi to Lady O and Kev too!

[@cammyo5931]

Carriezen8 Carriezen8 😁

[@sebastiantorgersen3616]

Jaime is at best equal to Boromir. Aaragorn is the son of Arathorn, high king of Gondor - of the race of Numenor. To compare him to Jaime is as stupid as comparing Gandalf to Dumbledore.

[@anthonykent00]

Haha! I love this comment. It is a little bit of hyperbole though. Aragorn isn't a god. 😉

[@lancekyser14]

I think this is a very fair assessment of Ned, given what we have to work with.

[@bridge4]

+Lance Kyser appreciate that feedback. Not everyone agrees, but your response was my goal. So it feel good to get some positive feedback. Thanks!! :)

[@verward]

05:58 I don't think it meant bronze yon Royce beat both of them together, but rather that he duelled both of them and beat both of them.

[@bridge4]

someone is borrowing my book, but i thought it said he "knocked ned down, turned, and made ser rodrick yield in turn" or something like that, no?

[@DynaSuarez9999Wrecks]

It was always my deduction that Ned was average to slightly above average and only had a reputation for being excellent because he was mistakenly thought to have defeated Arthur Dayne.

[@davidgrenader1]

Just binged about 30 of your videos. Maybe more. I have never read the books but plan on it, have rewatched the show once and am on the third with my brother. I loved your "best fighters" vidoes - could a ranking fighters outside westeros be possible? I would love to see Khal Drogo measured up to Jaime. +1 sub! Love the videos

[@bridge4]

im going to be continuning the fighter analyses after the season. i've just run out of time to get done even a 6th of the theory videos i have prepped over the last 2 years, which is a shame. so im focusing on as many of those ahead of s8 my apologies ill be looking into all characters though, not just westeros =))

[@jessicamartinez257]

I'm still not over his death!!!! Its been years and I still bring up how painful it was

[@bridge4]

+Jessica Martinez lol aw. Poor old dead headless ned

[@bkaa18]

How I interpreted the Ned vs Jamie fight was that Jamie was a bit surprised that Ned was better than he thought he was. Ned was clearly putting in more effort but Ned has plenty of experience from being fostered in the Vale, two wars, and I assume regular practices with his men. But I think that Ned's real strength in combat is that he doesn't think he is better than he is. He knows he isn't the strongest, fastest, or most skilled fighter. There is no ego that will cause him to overextend himself. So, I would say he maximizes what he can do with the experience he has gained. I mean, Ned isn't the type to lead a battle from the rear, so I imagine he was fighting in the frontlines during the Robert's Rebellion. I don't think it was just luck that enabled him to survive.

[@bridge4]

+bkaa18 well said :)

[@bkaa18]

+bridge4 Thank you. And for all the other analyses you have done.

[@bridge4]

+bkaa18 my pleasure. Thank you fr watching and chatting :)

[@alexvieira967]

Ned stark melhor personagem de Got .sean bean melhor ator.

[@Outrider74]

Tend to agree. Ned did not live for war. That was not his livelihood, or at least not what he wanted as a livelihood, unlike Jaime Lannister. But he did it well enough to hold his own in combat when necessary.

[@s_mkhl6617]

I believe at the Tower of Joy it was seven fighters against three fully armoured knights. Mounted knight in full armour was an equivalent of the modern tanks during Middle ages, so the fight was much more equal than it seems. Also there is a difference between being elite fighter, elite swordsman and elite knight.

[@easygrin1127]

Jaime on the show never really does anything impressive realy

[@bridge4]

+Easy Grin depending on how u see the fight with ned. I see that as impressive bc I interpret it as him toying with ned (since he needed to keep ned alive since tyrion was hostage at the time)

[@easygrin1127]

bridge4 he did say to his father that he didn't kill him because it wouldn't have been clean

[@willmosse3684]

Easy Grin I agree that we didn’t see Jaime do that much in the show, but the other characters clearly consider him to be the best, or at least one of, the best there is. So I think it is part of the show lore, even if we don’t see it on screen.

[@joshdawson5201]

He held off Breinne for a few minutes after a year of being held captive, malnourished with his hands tied together.

[@SuperBajack]

@@bridge4 Don't think he was toying with Ded Ned. He looked worried after that last blade lock and after breaking it, looked ferocious like he was in beast mode.

[@TheJim9191]

I think Ned was underrated by many, and is definitely up there in terms of swordsmanship. I particularly like to refer to his comment on not fighting at tourneys because he doesn't "want the other man to know what I can do" which is smart. He's certainly a good enough fighter and smart enough to capitalise on any mistake a superior fighter might make and win that fight. In his youth he was probably quick enough and strong enough to achieve that too. Ned 20 years younger, faster and stronger and with Ice in his hands would have been a pretty damn impressive warrior. However, if we're calling Arthur Dayne, Jamie, Selmy et al. "tier one/incredible" swordsmen, I believe Ned would be in "tier two/excellent" with the likes of Thoros, Bronn, Brienne, Lord Friendzone etc. and certainly a cut above the other "very good" fighters like Stannis, Beric Dondarrion, The Blackfish etc. This is based off the show, though. I think you really have to base your conclusions off either the show OR the books because if you amalgamate the two, which are basically separate ASOIAF universes, you end up with discrepancies

[@concernedcitizen8031]

I want to see Arya vs Ser Arthur Dayne

[@ilghost7535]

Why? She would get fucked.

[@lainter]

Jaime didnt even win against ned... some random guy stung him with a spear

[@bridge4]

+Elias Hoseth was jaime trying to win or toying with him? (Tyrion wss hostage at the time)

[@leonetheboss5558]

You can also see from their facial expressions, to me Jaime wasn't toying with him, he was merely enjoying the fight.

[@derkreuzritter6789]

Bridge4 I think that Jaime was just trying not to kill him, but if he WAS trying to kill him it would be difficult but 9/10 times I say Jaime would win.

[@bridge4]

+Trigerman333 for sure

[@easygrin1127]

He's is probably better in the show then he was in the books and Jamie is nowhere near as good as he was in the books.

[@bridge4]

+Easy Grin #truth!!

[@GabiN64]

Well Jaime in the books was still captured by Robb.

[@fugustogamer7512]

Jaime was captured by Robb in both the show and books, because he was an arrogant commander and led his men into an ambush. Not, because he wasn't a good fighter. Leading and fighting in a 1 v 1 are two separate things.

[@GabiN64]

my point is Jaime hasn't had the opportunity to show that he is any better in the books than in the show. He spends most his time screwing around with cersei, getting captured(twice), losing his hand and getting beat up by Brienne. So I don't know how it can be assumed that Jaime is a way better fighter in the books when he hasn't accomplished much by fighting in either.

[@ungabunga6699]

@@GabiN64 he still dueled the smiling Knight at the age of 15 and hold him off

[@7tosquare]

Ned is definitely elite imo.